Phals Spiking

[orchidsarefun]

2 of my phals are spiking, I think its strange as it seems way too early. They had flowered less than 6 months ago and finished maybe 2 months back.
All the others have new leaf growth and roots, nothing else to date.
Anybody else ? Average temps have not dropped ( my aircon is set to 72f ), and I haven't done anything different culture wise...
Maybe its this funky weather we are having in the Mid-West.

[wuness]

I was at the large orchid nursery in Villa Park a couple of weekends ago and was very surprised at the large number of phals in spike. I suspect there were at least 200 or more in a couple of greenhouses that had spikes at least a foot long. Like you, I don't expect to see any spiking until later in the fall (except for the occasional oddball) after we've had some chilly nights. I asked one of the workers what kind of low temps they were exposed to and I think he said the 60's is all. He also said high humidity was important.

wuness

[Pilot]

I'm having some spike now too. Although I grow mine in the basement and I dropped the photo period down, which does it for me most of the time. It's also getting slightly cooler, but rarely ever out of the 70s down there so maybe my photo period is what did it.

[Andre]

My Phal. amabilis is spiking. The weather in Vancouver is very mild, the nights are cool 14-16C at night at this time of the year.

[RosieC]

Lots of mine are spiking just now. Phals can spike at any time and not all are triggered by temperatures. I think mine have been triggered by low temperatures in July here, but yours might be different.

If the plant is spiking then it must be ready to spike and has had a necessary trigger. I would not worry about it, just enjoy your blooms.

As for nurseries, they can control the conditions to get them ready to spike, then trigger the spikes whenever they want.

[ginnibug]

I have 4 phals in a window @ one of my work places and one started spiking last month. It's still tiny but growing pretty good. I have a big one @ my other work place, I think I might need to bring it home to get it to spike. Besides that plant is pretty huge, I would be worried about the safety of the flower spike. The window blind might snap off the spike.
Out of 12 phalies, I have 1 already blooming for months, 1 in spike, 3 that won't bloom for a good couple years. That leaves 7 that need to spike. Bring on the spikes!!!ginnibug

[orchidsarefun]

this is an interesting article - which makes the point that even if you do everything else, just make sure that your orchids are getting sufficient light to get them to rebloom.


http://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=415

[Leisurely]

It only takes about a week of sixties at night to get them to spike. I was at a large growers facility in Central Florida in August where they grow thousands and thousands for brokers who supply the big box stores and it was a sight to see. The moist air flow was remarkable. When you opened the huge sliding door at the entrance, there was this air flow the was similar to the air curtain at some of the large department stores.

[RJSquirrel]

weee weee weeee I feel like willy the pig .
I found my phal. stuartiana, (which has never bloomed) with 3 spikes just sprouting

[Phalchid]

I have about six or seven of them in spike now, two with spikes over a foot long, and starting to show tiny buds. I feel it could be the weather here in the Chicago area!